The Final Showdown in ‘The Last Jedi’ Gets a Retro 16-bit Treatment

Much has been said and argued about how greatly Star Wars: The Last Jedi veered from the Star Wars franchise. While most critics loved it, some audiences felt that by taking things in a completely different direction, Episode 8 failed the legacy of their favorite space opera. And while opinions vary, we can mostly agree that The Last Jedi held back on the signature Star Wars nostalgia (at least, compared to The Force Awakens), and in lieu, gave us something new and progressive—or at the very least, something different.

So if you loved The Last Jedi but find yourself longing for that wistful feeling for something from the past, you’ll likely enjoy this 16-bit version of the movie’s climactic battle, done in the style of retro video games. As we’ve mentioned, major spoilers herewith, so don’t watch if you haven’t seen the movie.

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The video, which recalls side-scroller games like Metal Slug and Megaman, was made by animator John Stratman. He’s known for making 8-bit versions of modern movie trailers, including ones for Stranger Things 2, Blade Runner 2049, and Thor: Ragnarok. Everything from the dialogue to the sound effects is taken from video games from the pre-Playstation 2 era.

Stratman applied his retro style to Episode 8’s final battle on the mineral planet Crait, between Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker. It’s a pretty detailed adaptation, too; he even made sure to include that little hint that Luke is just a projection—the lack of footprints.

At over four minutes long, the video is a painstaking tribute to The Last Jedi, and would make a great trailer for a video game we’d totally play, if it existed.